Feed composition



United States PatentO FEED COMPOSITION Robert W. Colby, Lake Jackson,Tex., and Robert J. Mesler, Jr., Midland, Mich., assignors to The DowChemical Company, Midland, Mich., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.Application March 1, 1954 Serial No. 413,436

2 Claims. (Cl. 99-2) This invention is concerned with feed compositionsfor ruminants and is particularly directed to such compositions whichcomprise an additive as a source of usable nitrogen to supplement theprotein content of feeds from natural sources.

The continuing rapid growth of human population without concurrentdevelopment of new areas of arable land has imposed an increasing stresson agriculturists to produce more food products per acre of the land nowunder tillage. In meeting this problem with respect to the raising ofmeat animals such as sheep and beef cattle, there has been developed thefeed-lot method in which animals are not allowed to range over a widearea of grazing land but rather are collected into limited areas forintensive feeding. In such operations, a major item of expense is theprovision of the protein foods required for the growth of the animals.In the past it has been the practice to employ protein-rich supplementssuch as cottonseed meal and soybean meal.

' More recently, it has been found that a portion of the proteinrequirements of ruminants may be supplied in the, form of urea. Theurea-nitrogen is converted by the microorganisms of the rumen intoprotein utilizable by the ruminants. This conversion of urea-nitrogen toprotein has made possible the formulation of feed compositionscontaining a high protein-equivalent in the form of inexpensive andcommercially available synthetic urea in place of a substantialproportion of the expensive natural protein feedstuffs formerlyemployed.

The use of urea, however, has not provided an adequate solution to theabove-described problem. Urea is highly water-soluble with the resultthat the ureanitrogen may pass rapidly through the digestive systembefore the rumen microorganisms are able to utilize it. Moreover,considerable quantities of ammonia may be formed from urea by hydrolysisand either be lost from the rumen or prove toxic to the consuminganimal. A further disadvantage with urea is that foods containing itappear to be relatively unpalatable, particularly to young sheep, withthe result that the animals sometimes do not eat as muchurea-supplemented food as would be desirable for maximum rate of growth.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a newnitrogen-containing additive to supplement the protein portion ofruminant feed. It is a further object to provide such protein supplementin relatively non-toxic form. Yet another object is to provide palatablefeed compositions for ruminants which embody a synthetic organicnitrogen compound as a protein supplement. Other objects will becomeapparent from the following specification and claims.

According to the'present invention, it has been discovered that biuretcan be used as a source of nitrogen to supplement the protein feed ofruminants. It is among the advantages of the invention that feedcompositions containing biuret are relatively stable and nontoxic andare readily consumed when ofiered to ruminants.

2,861,886 Patented Nov. 25, 1958 In the practice of the invention, thebiuret may be incorporated in the feed in any suitable fashion. In i onemethod of operation, the biuret in crystalline form may be mixedtogether with other feed constituents in a chopper, mechanical mixer orthe like. In 3 another method of operation, a warm concentrated solutionof biuret may be sprayed onto a prepared feed and then passed to amechanical mixer and drier. Similarly, biuret may be admixed in eithercrystalline or solution form with feeds which are thereafter submittedto a pelleting process or the like.

The proportions of biuret to be employed in feed compositions may varywidely dependingupon whether the composition is a concentrate designedfor later admixture with other feed constituents or whether a balancedcomplete ration is prepared. The amount or supplemental nitrogenrequired depends upon the nitrogen content of the unsupplemented rationof the animals and any desired amount of biuret may be employed up to anamount equivalent to all the supplemental nitrogen required beyond thatfurnished in the grain and roughage being fed concurrently. In practice,it is generally desirable to regulate the amount of biuret in the feedso as to provide from about 5 to 50 percent and preferably from about to50 percent of the total nitrogen intake of the ruminant in the form ofbiuret.

In the preparation of feed concentratesfor supplementing thepredominantly carbohydrate materials .such as hay, ground corn cobsandthe like, compositions containing from about 5. to 90. percent byweight of The remainder of theconcentrate biuret arefsuitable. mayconsist of any one or more of various suitable feed supplements oredibleadditaments such as wheat bran, alfalfa meal, oil meal from soybeans,linseed, cottonseed or coconut, salt, minerals, distillersf and brewersby-products, vitamin supplements and the lilce.,

The following examples illustrate the invention but are not to beconstrued as limiting the same."

Example] A feed supplement to be employed for increasing the nitrogenlevel of predominantly carbohydrate feedstutfs is prepared bymechanically mixing the following in- 4 gredients:

Material- Parts by weight Wheat bran 200 Ground corn 1100 Cottonseedmeal 360 Biuret 124 Molasses 170 Minerals and salt 46 Example 2 Afinished feed mixture, suitable for dairy cattle or feed lot diets forruminants, is prepared by grinding and mechanically mixing thefollowing:

3 Example 3 A supplemental feed, high in availablenitrogeif and"essential growth substances rand minerals is prepared by mechanicallymixing the following ingredients:

Mater 1 art s by weight Cobalt sulfates;

I Brawler" Afecl composition is prepared by miiring together following,ingredients: 7

above composition is fe'd'to four yearling sheep maintained'inmetabolism cages sothat food intake and eir'creti ons can be determinedFollowing a nine-day peered? of adjustmentto tlie feed; thesheep show anaverageintal e"of- 48I6 grams of nitrogen per sheep over a five-dayperiod The nitrogen excretion in this period averages4 2.9 grams persheep, .giving an average positive nitrogen balance- 655i} grams persheep;

1 5 1 (7 r k A In an exactly similar determination employing L0 part:ofurea instead eithe 1.3 parts-of-biuret in-the-above diet, 4 yearlingsheep show an average positive nitrogen balance of only 0.85 gram persheep for the five-day period.

A supplementaryieed concentrate" is prepared by intimately admixing thefollowing:

Material Parts byWig ht 'Biuret v 0 Brewers dried grains 25 Dehydratedialfalfa' l. nut. 43 Iodized salt A.. ...'.V l0 Steamed bonemeal -e 20Tricalcium phosphate 2 This composition is suitableformixingwith-silage; hay, ground grain and the like-for preparingfeedsof= en hanced available nitrogen content; a 1.;-

We claimza p 1. A ruminant feed concentrate, adapted for'mixingwith'carbohydrate and roughage feeds to prepare ruminant feeds ofenhanced available nitrogen content, which comprises an edible ruminantfeed supplement and-Yin admixture therewith from about 5 to- 90 percentby Weight of biuret based on the total weight of the finishedcomposition.

2w A,ruminant-feed composition which comprises-protein, carbohydrate'andfro m'about 510 percent, ,by weight oi -the total available nitrogen ofthe composition in the formof-biuret: i

References Cited in the file ofthispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,768,895 Kamlet. Oct. so, 1956

1. A RUMINANT FEED CONCENTRATE, ADAPTED FOR MIXING WITH CARBOHYDRATE ANDROUGHAGE FEEDS TO PREPARE RUMINANT FEEDS OF ENHANCED AVAILABLE NITROGENCONTENT, WHICH COMPRISES AN EDIBLE RUMINANT FEED SUPPLEMENT AND INADMIXTURE THEREWITH FROM ABOUT 5 TO 90 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF BIURET BASEDON THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF THE FINISHED COMPOSITION.